Orfordness

Yesterday we went to Orfordness, a strange shingle spit on the Suffolk coast formerly used by the Ministry of Defence - for airfields, radar research and bomb testing, including triggers for atomic bombs - but now owned by the National Trust. We couldn't have wished for better late October weather - the light was intense and ideal for photography.

Signs of Autumn

Black Bryony berries

One of the advantages of being self-employed is that I can, to some extent, choose which days I work.
So I spent much of the weekend, when it was raining, looking at Wordpress software (http://wordpress.org/).
But today was sunny so Vanna and I headed out to south Norfolk on a 30 mile cycle ride so that she could sketch a hedge near Woodton, in preparation for a series of acrylic paintings.

We first noticed this hedge last autumn. It is full of Elm, Field Maple, Hawthorn, Spindle, Sloes, Roses and Dogwood, as well as the twining stems of Black Bryony.

Then on the way home I stopped off at the allotment and dug up the winter's first parsnips - a good size and very muddy! 'Tis the season for roast dinners...

Parsnips

Sweet Potato Harvest

I've just lifted our crop of sweet potatoes from our allotment.
The sweet potatoes arrived as 'slips' in late May and looked like very sickly bindweed shoots. (When I first saw them I thought Vanna had picked bindweed to draw!) After a week in water they were planted in compost in root trainers and then planted outside in mid June. They were lovingly watered through late June and early July's drought and then growth took off in the wet weather of August.
The tubers vary in size and are a lovely pink colour, like the stems. We now have 9lb of sweet potatoes to eat; I think that works out at £1.50 a pound, so they had better taste good!

Sweet Potatoes

Website of the Month - Doodle

I've recently discovered Doodle - www.doodle.com.
This is a useful tool for scheduling meetings and the basic version is free. You create a poll with a number of possible dates and times for the meeting and send a link to the attendees. Everyone then 'votes' for the dates and times that suit them. It can also connect to a Google or Outlook calendar and there's an iPhone app too, if you're that way inclined.
As this is a poll, it is very flexible, so you could use it to decide on a venue for a meeting or day out as well.
The website isn't pretty but Doodle is a useful and free tool, which is why it's October's website of the month.

Ely Apple Day

Yesterday we went to Ely Apple Day.
This is held every October in front of the cathedral, and features lots of stalls, many apple-related. There were apples for sale, an East of England Apples and Orchards Project (EEAOP) apple identification stall, apple cakes, sausages and pork and apple burgers to eat, cider, apple juice and crafts. Musicians and morris dancers provided entertainment, as did some very friendly alpacas from Norfolk's Alpaca Trekking.
We also visited the wonderful Topping and Company bookshop on Ely High Street, where - appropriately - I treated myself to a book on apple identification.
A great day out, with plenty of sunshine as well as some showers.

Building a garden from scratch - Grapes Hill Community Garden

One of my jobs is as webmaster for the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group. Based in Norwich, Norfolk, we're hoping to transform an area of tarmac into a lovely community garden. We have received funding from various sources and the hard landscaping work finally started in mid September this year.
I've been visiting the garden most days since then and I've added photos of the construction work to the website in a garden construction gallery.
In the last few days it has become really interesting, as deep beds and paving are put in place and the overall structure of the garden takes shape.